


The Only Bit of Kindness

by leatherandlace



Series: Swan Queen Week Summer 2015 [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Swan Queen Week, Swan Queen Week 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 08:44:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4341824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leatherandlace/pseuds/leatherandlace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Third day of Swan Queen Week Summer 2015! Prompt: Emma and/or Regina time travel into the past. Regina was having a nightmare, and Emma (who had slept over due to their late night with some whiskey and cider to keep company) goes to console her. As soon as Emma touches Regina, she’s somehow transported to a different world—the past. She gets a small idea on just how terrifying the events Regina went through. TW for abuse. Oneshot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Only Bit of Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> So its the third day of Swan Queen Week, so here is my third fic! This isn't one of my favorite works, I was in the car and a tad distracted. My apologies for any grammatical errors. Please leave a Kudos and/or comments below!
> 
> TW for abuse.
> 
> Follow my Tumblr: reginaswifesaywhat

_Where the Hell was she?_ One second she was trying to console a thrashing Regina who was suffering from what must have been a horrifying nightmare, and the next she’s…here. Where ‘here’ was though, Emma hadn’t worked out yet.

She was surrounded by stone walls that towered above her head, and they were adorned with intricate tapestries and mirrors. It looked like she was in a corridor of some sorts. Emma grudgingly stood up, steadying herself on the wall and trying to ignore the persistent pounding in her head.

She ventured down the corridor, looking for something that could tip her off to where she was. She was obviously in a castle or dungeon, or something of the like. And it was definitely magical, because it had something to do with touching Regina.

“Your Majesty.” She heard someone say quite close to her, right around the bend of a corridor. Shit. Emma hid behind a statue, and peered around the corner, only to see a group of men clad in white armor with swords strapped to their sides, and they were ringed around a man. Emma recognized the men from Henry’s story book; they were guards that were featured in many different stories. The man they were all crowded around—who had been referred to as Your Majesty—had golden robes and a bejeweled crown resting on his balding head, and was most obviously a king.

“Guards, please wait outside my wife’s quarters while I…talk to her.” The King ordered the guards, and they nodded obediently, following him deeper into the castle. Emma had no idea where she was or how she was going to get out, so mine as well follow them, she thought.

She tailed the group of men quietly, ducking behind a statue every once in a while to avoid being caught. Eventually they reached a dark wooden door, and the King stopped walking. Emma peered around a statue as one of the guards opened the door for him. The King walked into the room, but Emma could’t see anything beyond that, because before she could catch of glimpse of anything but the King’s looming figure, the guards slammed the door behind them.

It was silent for a few moments, and then the sound of a slap resonated throughout the corridor, making Emma and the guards wince. The King was yelling inside the room, screaming at the woman in there, and the sound of slaps were heard.

Thats was his _wife_ in there? He was beating her! Emma wanted to do something, wanted to stem the sobs that were coming out of that room, but she was largely outnumbered, and would only cause the woman and herself more trouble. So she sat there, her hands over her ears, trying to block out the tortured screams until they stopped.

The sound of the door being open brought her hands down from her ears, and she looked back over the corner of statue. The King marched out of the room, and he looked almost…smug. She could hear whimpers coming from the inside of the room, and the man turned back to the doorway. “You will be quiet, or you will be punished.” He said eerily cal my, and the cries stopped.

The King and his guards walked back down the corridor, leaving an appalled Emma behind them. The Savior would not be following them this time.

The blonde watched as the men walked out of her line of sight, and she waited breathlessly for a few minutes in case they returned. When the sound of footsteps faded and she was as reassured as she could be that they wouldn’t come back, Emma slowly retreated from her hiding spot. Periodically checking behind her, she raced down the corridor until she reached the wooden door. The blonde pressed her ear to the door, and she could hear the faint cries of the King’s wife.

Emma took a deep breath, and then creaked open the door as quietly as possible. Checking behind her for a guard, Emma slipped inside the room, careful not to disturb the woman.

The King’s wife had deep brown hair pulled up into a bun, and she was wearing an intricate maroon dress with an open back . Her back was facing her so she couldn’t see her face, but her body was wracking with sobs. Every once in a while, she would let out a strangled sob, and Emma couldn’t keep her tears from falling at how broken the woman was, and for good reason. What kind of King— _husband_ , even—would do that?

Emma slowly made her way across the room, debating on how to console the woman.

All of a sudden, the King’s wife abruptly stood up, striding towards the balcony. “Why can’t I just be _happy_?” The woman yelled, banging her fists against the balcony and fully sobbing now. What the Hell? That woman’s voice was oddly familiar God, that sounded like—

“Regina?” Emma whispered, praying to every God that was listening that it wouldn’t be Regina. The woman jumped up, surprised, and then whipped around.

Emma gasped. The woman before was indeed Regina, but it wasn’t the Regina she knew. The Regina standing before her, hunched with sadness and terror, looked so…broken. She had tear tracks down her face, her eyes were bloodshot, but the most noticeable thing was the big red handprint plastered onto her cheeks.

“Who are you?” Regina asked in a tearily, her voice shaky and trembling. “And how do you know my name?”

“My name is Emma. I just…i just want to help you.” Emma put her arms up in surrender, but she walked closer to Regina, who regarded her as though she was a blood thirsty grizzly bear.

“Help how?” Regina was trying to gain her bearings in front of her, Emma could tell, but she wasn’t quite succeeding.

Emma smiled, finally reaching the balcony Regina was standing at. “I’ll talk to you, and i have a great piece of information.” Emma reached up to touch the mark on Regina’s cheeks, and the brunette winced as soon as their skin made contact.

“Are you alright?” Regina frowned, more tears budding at the corners of her eyes. “No, i’m not alright.” Regina looked out at the stars, clenching the ledge of the balcony so hard that her knuckles were white. “What information d o you have to tell me?”

“Well it seems kind of stupid now that I think about it, and you probably won’t believe me. But…” She looked at Regina, the innocence in her eyes that was foreign to her, the hurt. “It gets better.”

Regina smiled, shaking her head. “Well, Emma, that doesn’t really help me right now, but thank you. You’re the only one that has asked me if i was alright in the longest time.”

Emma blushed, satisfied that she could offer something to the younger Regina. The brunette looked at her with indecision, almost confusion. Regina went to grab Emma’s hand and—

She was back in Regina’s bedroom. The brunette was wide awake now, out of her nightmare, and she was looking back at Emma like a deer caught in headlights. “You saved me that night.” Regina whispered, actually taking Emma’s hand this time. “You were the first person to ever show me any bit of kindness since I married Leopold. I was going to kill myself that night. But then you came and asked me if i was alight and told me it would be better, and yeah, it was stupid, but it convinced me that perhaps it would be better. So, thank you. And you were right. It did get better."


End file.
